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Open-Source, Multitouch Display

technologyreview.com — Engineers are building inexpensive, tabletop, touch-screen displays and sharing the instructions online.

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  • wukillabee, on 05/05/2008, -23/+3can we stop creating things that require you to touch something hundreds of other people have touched with their dirty hands
    • swicken, on 05/05/2008, -1/+14OMG NO NOT THE GERMMMMSSSS
      • wukillabee, on 05/05/2008, -0/+9EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SEMEN RESIDUE
        • swicken, on 05/05/2008, -7/+1If the thing you're most afraid of from other peoples hands is semen residue then you need some biology classes.
        • Stupidumb, on 05/05/2008, -3/+1Why AREN'T you afraid of semen residue?
    • lonehunter01, on 05/05/2008, -1/+1It's not the germs.... it's the fact that they look like crap after five minutes of use.
    • ricksite, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5Don't you typically only use two fingers with a multi-touch display? That is less than a normal keyboard.
    • MioTheGreat, on 05/05/2008, -1/+1There are a few experimental nanotech materials that can kill germs on contact.

      Whether any of them are transparent or can be used in this kind of application, I don't know...but it might be possible in the future.
      • MWeather, on 05/05/2008, -0/+10If only our bodies had immune systems, then we wouldn't need tech like that.
        • ricksite, on 05/05/2008, -0/+2Yeah but if the germs don't kill us, toxins will. I wish we had kidneys too.
          • MWeather, on 05/06/2008, -0/+1That's why I only drink rain water and pure grain alcohol.
        • MioTheGreat, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3I agree. I think we're too concerned with this kind of stuff. A sterile environment isn't the best thing in the world for you.
    • Stupidumb, on 05/05/2008, -0/+9How many ***** strangers do you allow into your home? Get a ***** lock or something.
    • jimmy17, on 05/05/2008, -0/+4As oppose to all those telepathic devices we've been using for years.
    • nmnnotmyname, on 05/06/2008, -0/+1You typed this with what?
  • TRScheel, on 05/05/2008, -1/+6Need one of these for a LAN party
  • mediaspree, on 05/05/2008, -10/+49Screw You, Microsoft Surface.
    • wukillabee, on 05/05/2008, -14/+12Surface pwns iTouch/Phone
      • MWeather, on 05/05/2008, -0/+12I don't find Surface nearly as convenient for making calls.
        • rompom7, on 05/05/2008, -6/+3And I don't find the iPhone nearly as useful at washing my dishes.

          How about we don't try to compare the too wukillabee and MWeather? It'd be like comparing a television and a computer, because they both have screens.
          • Continuum, on 05/05/2008, -0/+5.... I think that is the point MWeather was trying to make.
          • nmnnotmyname, on 05/06/2008, -0/+2Read twice comment once?
        • newwatch51, on 05/06/2008, -0/+1But you can't fit the surface in your pocket.
      • digitalpencil, on 05/05/2008, -0/+8Yeh, because it uses camera-based multitouch. It's not like you could condense it down to fit into anything smaller than a table. The Broadcom systems in iTouch/phone are amazing given its physical size
    • Lico163, on 05/05/2008, -4/+0up
    • B3N3, on 05/05/2008, -0/+6Steve Ballmer is having a bad week...
  • swicken, on 05/05/2008, -1/+24Warcraft anyone? My table, 15 minutes.
  • gr8one, on 05/05/2008, -18/+7It's the open-source alternative to the MS Surface. Now you can build your own useless piece of crap, but only waste your time, not your money!
    • nmnnotmyname, on 05/06/2008, -3/+1Yeah, and meanwhile, you can shut the ***** up.
  • ncc74656m, on 05/05/2008, -3/+2Despite what you may have heard, "hundreds of other people" have not been touching me with "their dirty hands."
  • insanecee, on 05/05/2008, -3/+4does anybody else see the Minority Report when reading this article.....
    http://www.pikesoft.com/blog/media/2/20060727-mino ...
    • basotl, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3Actually I think of Minority Report when I look at Johnny Lee's approach that is mentioned at the end of the article. He uses a Wii remote's IR camera to get a similar effect accomplished with the edition of being able to use it as a multi touch white board. If it only worked on Linux... I could imagine how crazy it would look with Compiz-Fusion.

      Site for project that I mentioned: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~johnny/projects/wii/
  • macwac, on 05/05/2008, -1/+16For more info on the open-source Cubit Multitouch build it yourself:

    http://eyebeam.org/project/cubit
    http://nortd.com/cubit/
    (uber slow loading: google cache: http://209.85.175.104/search?q=cache:lXmRDRMqLcoJ: ...
  • jboettcher, on 05/05/2008, -2/+7I think that would be a cool way to play chess on the coffee table....
    • ryannerd, on 05/05/2008, -0/+6"New strategy R2; let the wookie win."
    • chad78, on 05/06/2008, -0/+2Or... You could, ya know, use a chess set.
    • zongamin, on 05/07/2008, -1/+1***** hell - I think you might actually be serious..... GET A CHESS SET YOU IDIOT
  • tvaught, on 05/05/2008, -1/+5There was a Python-based table presented to a 'live audience' at the Python Conference here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=bEf3nGjOgpU
  • macwac, on 05/05/2008, -1/+1Here is a video of the Cubit Multi Touch working: http://nortd.com/cubit/cubit-proto.mp4 (definitely not as impressive as jeff han's but probably a fun project)
    (sorry about the two posts, at least this one loads faster than the website itself - cant edit my previous post)
  • keyme, on 05/05/2008, -1/+19$500? Here's how to make one for $50, or $5 if you have a spare webcam. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQpr3W-YmcQ
    • aladrin, on 05/05/2008, -0/+2The $500 one also had a video projector and looked a little more commercial. It's not like you don't get anything for the extra $450.
  • Lico163, on 05/05/2008, -6/+2Microsoft Surface,Screw You
  • BrianSaysHi, on 05/05/2008, -8/+6Does anyone else hate touch screen interfaces?

    *Prepares to be dugg down*
    • bradleyland, on 05/05/2008, -2/+7It is as irrational to "hate" touch screen interfaces today as it was to "hate" mouse/keyboard interfaces back when they were first introduced. Most interface designers are used to a mouse/keyboard world. Most users are used to a mouse/keyboard world. To expect both of them to morph in to touch interface experts overnight is unrealistic.

      As the devices become cheaper, their use will become more widespread. This "open" model is exactly what touch interface design needs. The smartest guy in the room isn't always the guy who can afford a $50k development kit and prototype. This opens the door for anyone with the necessary drive and the skill to make something great.
      • aladrin, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3I disagree. Your fingers are not precise pointing instruments. There's no way to make them be so, no matter how much tech and programming your throw at the problem.

        My main gripe about touch interfaces is how inaccurate they are. I press and hope the screen reads my touch as where I think it will. The only current solution is to make everything oversized so you can miss by a wide margin and still have it work. I -hate- interfaces that take up too much screen, so that doesn't work well either.

        With a mouse, you can have the corner of the window do the resizing while still having a useful icon in that corner of the window. With touch screens, that's impossible.

        Gestures are a partial solution to the problem, but there are times you just plain need accuracy to do things.

        I don't 'hate' touchscreen interfaces, but there are definitely good and bad times for them.
        • bradleyland, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3You're operating from within the confines of an interface designed for a mouse and keyboard; of course you hate touch interfaces. Nor is a touch interface the right tool for every job. Even still, we've only just begun to see where touch interfaces can take us. I know it is wildly unpopular here, but the iPhone interface incorporates a lot of really good touch UI. That's not to say that all of the touch UI on the iPhone is great, but there are many, many parts of it that are awesome, and it doesn't require a 32" screen to do so.
        • SSUK, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Ever heard of a Stylus?
  • over900000, on 05/05/2008, -10/+5Open source stealing others ideas again.
  • steveeq2, on 05/05/2008, -1/+2Good. Has anyone ever TRIED to contact Microsoft to purchase Microsoft Surface? They won't even return your emails! There is no phone number to call either. I even tried calling Microsoft's main number and even the employees don't know.

    hhhhhhh
  • cannonball, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Dugg because the developer is hot.
  • gubatron2, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Can't wait for the video game applications. We'll finally be able to experience Table games again with the family and friends
  • Khast, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Que Apple, and Microsoft lawsuits in 3...2...1.... /sarcasm

    I think it is great that the open source community is getting into projects like this. It will help reduce the cost of the technology, and will foster more improvements, faster.
  • brettalton, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1And if you care about their Wikipedia article, its up for 'speedy deletion': http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUBIT_(multi-touch)
  • ATLien74, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1What about Johnny Lee's Multitouch Whiteboard with a WiiMote and Projector?
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s5EvhHy7eQ
  • OfF3nSiV3, on 05/05/2008, -1/+1hum, but how will this company profit exactly?
    • alienSkull, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1thats not the point...
      looks like you need to brush up on open source philosophy... try wikipedia
      profit is not the motivational factor here.
      plus if the "secret sauce" is out in the open it will keep corporations like microsoft from having a monopoly on the tech. and 100x overcharging for it...

      now with a much lower barrier for entry, some kid in his parents basement will most likey make some amazing advancement or use it in a new way
      that wouldnt happen if he couldnt get one for less than a small fortune.
      the more people that can use it the faster the tech will evolve and become ubiquitous.
  • YodaJones, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1I've seen a few touch/surface computing projects lately and they have been informative. What I find interesting about these developments is that maybe the community will be able to deliver a inexpensive surface computer before Microsoft. How cool would that be?
  • nirav72, on 05/05/2008, -0/+3Now you can make your own Big Ass table without spending a lot of money!

  • bincoder, on 05/05/2008, -0/+2I have yet to experience a touch screen that works the way they should work. They have been awkward and clumsy, slow and inaccurate. I can type on a KB a billion times faster than by messing around with the display and I don't have to look at each and every selection to make sure it registered the selection. Much like how retailers now use these e-signature? stations at the checkout for CC and other transactions. 99.999% of the time the buttons require multiple presses to work, the signature you made looks like random lines and the person working the register ignores it and says thats fine. (yup, thats real security alright)
  • MioTheGreat, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Wait.

    Where are the plans for it?
  • Almightymole, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1I have a few thoughts and questions on all this Multi touch/input stuff. I personally would love to use computers on a day to day basis which allows me to use every finger to manipulate objects. You have all these different bits of hardware to create something with the same purpose. Then the people who create them make software for you, the user to use them. From the iPhone to Microsoft surface and this Cubit, this is the same.
    Creating interfaces to existing applications, like the example in a Python Conference tvaught mentioned in a post above. You also have many other multi input systems , for example - Johnny Lee's Multi-touch Whiteboard using an Nintendo Wii (also mentioned by someone else before me).
    But what if I want an application which don't want to give two ***** what is providing the multi interface input?
    Would some framework to allow programmers to write programs which 'work' well with such an interface type without needing to know how to get the input? This framework would need to know what this system is using for this input.

    We want to encourage developers to design for systems of the future do we not?

    Also one would need to consider what seems 'right' when designing software for multi-touch systems. As many have said, windowed GUI will be pretty much thrown out the window (sorry had to use pun as such). Text menus and small icons also would be too fiddly for such applications of today to work. Having bigger icons will make it less fiddly, but will take up screen. When UI is concerned, a balance of space and being able to click on something will be needed to be put to thought. Using some form of iconic Ribbon (Like Microsoft Office 2007), combined with something you can scroll through like Cover Flow.

    I for one can't wait what bright minds come up with in the future computing, and multi input interfaces.
  • jt28, on 05/05/2008, -0/+1Johnny Lee was doing this back in the day! Any amount of open source for multi touch is crucial, with any luck by the time M$ Surface actually becomes a) available b) affordable most people will have heard/supported this kind of thing. Having said that, always interesting to see what the bigger companies do with this sort of grass roots innovation.
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